The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1978–2011
Gianfranco Ferré built an $811M Italian fashion house — then IT Holding buried it
Ferré's sales hit $811M in 1996. He sold 90% for $150M in 2000. Three years after his death, IT Holding went bankrupt.
Gianfranco Ferré · IT Holding · Prodos Capital · Paris Group · 2009-12-31
What happened
Gianfranco Ferré launched his womenswear line in 1978 and built one of Italy's most respected fashion houses. His architectural, sculptural designs earned him the nickname 'the Frank Gehry of Fashion.' By 1996, the company's total sales had reached $811 million, with 14 licenses contributing 58% of revenue. Ferré and his CFO Franco Mattioli owned the company equally.
In 2000, Ferré sold 90% of the company to Gruppo Tonino Perna, parent of IT Holding, for an estimated $150–175 million. Ferré continued as creative director until his death in 2007. Three years later, in 2009, IT Holding went into bankruptcy administration. The parent company's collapse dragged the fashion house down with it.
After the bankruptcy, the brand went through two quick sales: first to US private equity firm Prodos Capital in 2010, then to Dubai-based Paris Group in 2011. The creative team was in turmoil — Lars Nilsson lasted only five months as creative director in 2007, and the subsequent duo of Aquilano and Rimondi were fired for poor sales. The house that had once been worth $811 million in annual sales was a distressed asset trading hands between financial buyers.
Why it happened
- Ferré sold majority control to IT Holding, a conglomerate that went bankrupt within a decade — the fashion house had no financial independence and sank with its parent.
- The founder's death in 2007 removed Ferré's creative direction just when the company most needed leadership — IT Holding was already struggling and the brand had no Ferré to fall back on.
- IT Holding treated the fashion house as a portfolio asset, not a creative business — the constant owner turnover (Prodos, Paris Group) meant no long-term investment in the brand's future.
The lesson
Selling control to a parent company is a bet on the parent's survival. Ferré's $150M deal bought him independence from his own business but tied his legacy to a collapsing company.
Aftermath
The Gianfranco Ferré brand continues under Paris Group ownership but has never regained the stature it held in the 1990s. The $811 million fashion house that dressed celebrities and royalty is now a much smaller licensing operation. Gianfranco Ferré's name still appears on products, but the company he built from a 1978 womenswear line died with IT Holding in 2009.
Sources
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